Fire trucks and police cars arrived to a report of a structure fire at a home on the cul-de-sac just after 12:30 p.m.

“I was first on-scene, and a neighbour was hosing down the side of a two-car garage that had been fully engulfed,” said BX-Swan Lake Fire Chief Bill Wacey. “He knocked it down until crews got set up and finished extinguishing the fire.”

The fire damaged the siding of the garage, burned out a big bay window and got into the fascia and eavestrough of the structure, which houses storage on its second floor.

“We did extension work to make sure everything was put out and it was,” said Wacey.

The lone occupant of the residence was home but, said Wacey, didn’t see or hear anything until she noticed a neighbour running through her backyard and hopping her fence while carrying a garden hose, racing toward the fire to put it out.

There were no injuries.

“Everybody in these little neighbourhoods watch out for one another and as soon as they see anything suspicious, they’re the first to notify the homeowner,” said Wacey. “That’s exactly what happened here. Both neighbours on one side and one behind noticed (the fire), grabbed their garden hoses, jumped the fence and started to extinguish it.”

Three members of the Vernon-North Okanagan RCMP detachment were on-hand as police do the lead investigating for regional district areas, so they are always called to the scene.